Stress-free rental returns for Jenny & Roy

If you’re a busy couple like many of our Bachcare owners, you’ll likely be looking for the most practical, stress free approach to managing your holiday home rentals. We caught up with Jenny & Roy West, Bachcare owners of The Baker's Bach in Papamoa. They have a long history of baking and interior design in an incredibly busy family, and wanted a no-hassle approach to their holiday rental.

Roy is a baker by trade and together he and Jenny have been proud owner operators of a number of bakeries and cafe's for over 22 years. Having been married for over 30 years, renovating houses has been a past-time their entire married life. With Jenny’s passion for renovation leading to a qualification in interior design and a new business, it’s clear to see why this couple were attracted to the idea of buying and setting up holiday rentals to enjoy their creativeness.

Having always lived a busy life up in Auckland, they purchased a holiday home in Papamoa in November 2014. Lovingly called‘The Bakers Bach’, they took it on as an investment and holiday home, always with the intention of it being managed. There was a clear plan to eventually move out of the busy Auckland lifestyle and into their Papamoa holiday home, but in the meantime hugely benefit from the rental returns as a fully managed holiday rental. When we asked Jenny why they decided to choose short term rental she commented:

The income generated is greater than a full time rental, and we, the family and friends can enjoy it at the same time!

So we asked Jenny the question, why Bachcare? She mentioned that with the family being based up in Auckland they wanted a company that exclusively took care of holiday rentals. “We wanted a company that made sure the guests holiday went problem free and that we had the reassurance that our home was being well looked after. Bachcare also has a good reputation and are well known.”

The setup process of getting The Baker’s Bach up and live with Bachcare was seamless and the bookings began flowing in. As Jenny comments:

Occupancy has been well above our expectations

And as to the day to day, Jenny and Roy are big fans of the no-stress approach. "It takes the stress out of having to be on hand to make sure your guests are happy," Jenny mentions. "Or if something breaks down or the weather has caused a problem, for example if there's a power outage, someone is on hand to help. Nothing is more reassuring than knowing the house has been checked and cleaned before your next guests arrive and necessities topped up. It takes away the responsibility."

As for the West family now, their plans accelerated and they moved down to Papamoa a year earlier than expected. They have purchased further holiday rentals in the area and as Jenny states, “Even though we now live closer, we’ll still be using Bachcare as we like the whole no-stress concept.” It’s also allowing Jenny to fully focus on other renovation projects and to drive her new interior design business, Jenny West Interiors.

And for current or would be holiday-home owners out there? Jenny has some great tips to offer…

“Make sure your home is well marketed - we have complemented the Bachcare marketing with our own marketing on Facebook, Instagram, business cards, a visitors book and blackboard (painted on the wall with welcome and a few other words of inspiration) to get feedback.

Make sure to also have a theme to your holiday home. We are bakers so we provide premix cookie jars for our guests at the beginning and a recipe on the blackboard and guests loved it. Little things like that go a long way. We also provide other cheap but luxurious items to add to the overall experience.

Present your home the best you can by adding homely things like throws and fresh new modern cushions. We made sure our kitchen has condiments i.e. olive oil, spices, soy sauce etc and we provide all dry baking ingredients i.e. flour, sugar, baking powder etc. It’s not that everyone uses it, but it's a nice touch to know that you care and nothing has ever been over-used or taken away."

As to the future, Roy & Jenny have added another holiday rental in Mount Maunganui near the beach, that should be available by Summer 2016.